Big-hitting Livingstone seals Lancs win over Kent
Livingstone's match-winning knock was his first half-century of this year's T20 Blast
- Published
Vitality Blast quarter-final, Emirates Old Trafford
Kent Spitfires 153 (20 overs): Denly 28; Wood 3-29
Lancashire Lightning 156-7 (18.3 overs): Livingstone 85*, Jones 28; Klaassen 3-14
Lancashire won by three wickets
Liam Livingstone blazed an undefeated 85 from 45 balls - his highest score of this season's T20 Blast - to secure Lancashire's ticket to Finals Day as they held off Kent at Old Trafford.
The all-rounder struck seven sixes and four fours, keeping his nerve to seal victory with nine deliveries to spare after Lightning lost two early wickets and then wobbled again at 118-6 in pursuit of their 154 target.
Earlier, Livingstone performed a key role with the ball, taking 2-21 from four overs as he and fellow spinner Tom Hartley (1-21) stifled the Spitfires' innings, while left-arm paceman Luke Wood took 3-29.
Kent seamer Fred Klaassen took 3-14, but Lancashire squeezed home to end their recent quarter-final hoodoo – having lost three times at this stage in the past four years – and earn a last-four meeting with Somerset next Saturday at Edgbaston.
Having won the toss and opted to bat, the Spitfires' start was less than ideal as Tawanda Muyeye, the tournament's third highest run-scorer, drove Wood's opening delivery straight to mid-off.
Zak Crawley looked in good touch on his return to the Kent side, hitting a string of straight boundaries to reach 27 from 18 until he misjudged a hook off Jack Blatherwick's slower ball and was caught behind to leave the visitors on 65-3.
But the introduction of Hartley and Livingstone, bowling in tandem, strangled the innings in the middle overs, with experienced pair Sam Billings and Joe Denly caught in the deep as Kent struggled to build partnerships.
Tom Aspinwall (right) picked up two late wickets as Kent were bowled out for 153
Joey Evison (27 from 24) and Grant Stewart (25 from 15) did their best to raise the tempo only to be pegged back by a handy two-over stint of 2-12 from Tom Aspinwall as wickets continued to fall at the death.
Kent's tail did enough to clamber above the 150 mark, but Wood returned to wrap up the innings by dismissing Klaassen and last man Nathan Gilchrist in the final over for a total that looked below par.
However, the target began to seem more distant for Lancashire when they swiftly sank to 5-2 in reply, with Phil Salt caught in the deep before a ball from Klaassen hit Luke Wells on the pads and trickled down his back leg onto the stumps.
Livingstone gave his side impetus, slamming Nathan Gilchrist for a leg-side six and then, after being cleared to continue when a short ball veered onto his helmet, struck the next delivery for another maximum.
Although skipper Keaton Jennings also departed, caught at backward square off Klaassen, Ashton Turner proved a capable foil for Livingstone with 22 from 14 until he heaved Evison to deep midwicket.
By then, Livingstone had raced to his half-century from 25 balls, launching former team-mate Matt Parkinson for three enormous sixes in a single over to keep Lancashire firmly on track.
The Spitfires leg-spinner struck twice in the space of three deliveries, dismissing Michael Jones (28 from 17) and Hartley for a duck to increase the pressure on Livingstone.
But the 32-year-old responded with another bout of big hitting to take Lancashire across the line, finishing with a booming drive to the cover boundary off Gilchrist.